Today‘s social situation and its outlook in European Union

Jonas Vėlyvis

The situation in Gelgaudiškis should be analysed in conjunction with that in the region and the whole state. Its population is expected to decrease further. According to its economic status, this small town will be nearing to a village, but its life style to remain more typical of a town than a village.

The gap from the product created in the state is increasing from 1996, when a mean dweller of Gelgaudiškis had created 78.9% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP); so in 2000 it contracted to 70.4%. This is nearly a third of the country’s average. In the context of Lithuania being an EU member, the economy of Gelgaudiškis can be revived by rural tourism and the use of EU financial assistance for development and preservation of villages.